Southwest Chicken Salad
- Bridget Voelker
- Sep 23, 2016
- 3 min read
Wow was this delicious and easy! I was watching the Pioneer Woman the other day and she was making all these southwest and ranch style dishes and it got me thinking. How can I make something "tex-mex" or "southwest" but fitting my macros? And let's face it, the pioneer woman doesn't count her macros. So I came up with the idea of making a super filling salad that doesn't even taste like a salad! My husband was even like, "wow this is amazing!" Then he proceeded to also eat his with chips and salsa, haha. Check out the "Tips" at the bottom for substitutions to the recipe.
Ingredients:
chicken thighs (remove skin and excess fat)
2 green bell peppers in slices
1/4 white onion in slices
about 8 white mushrooms sliced
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can corn (drained and rinsed)
1 C cherry tomatoes (cut in half)
baby spinach
1/2 vegetable or chicken stock
(Seasonings)
cumin
garlic powder
cayenne pepper
chili powder
paprika
salt and pepper
(Dressing)
2 T Primal Kitchen Chipotle lime mayo
2 T salsa
1 T lemon juice
1 T spicy mustard
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take your chicken thighs and place them in a glass baking dish. Pour the vegetable or chicken stock into the pan. Season your chicken according to your taste and spice preference. I use more paprika, garlic and cumin and less chili powder and cayenne. Rub it all over and around the chicken. The stock at the bottom of the pan will help incorporate the flavor and keep everything moist. No one likes dry chicken. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes.
*I usually let these cook and begin preparing the rest of the salad when there is 20 min left on the chicken.
Next, heat a med/large pan to medium/low heat. Spray well with cooking spray or use 1 T oil. Add in your mushrooms, onions and bell peppers. Season them with a little salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and garlic powder. Continue to stir them around and spray with cooking spray as needed until everything is tender. They will cook about 15 minutes.
While that is going, get a large salad bowl and add your rinsed and drained corn and beans. Add in a few large handfuls of baby spinach and the chopped cherry tomatoes. Mix together the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl. If you do not have the mayo I have listed, you can use a T of regular mayo, some mashed avocado, and some chipotle, sriracha, or chiles for the spice. If you don't have any of those, just add some more salsa to the mayo. You can add more lemon juice or lime juice to thin it out. You really don't need much of this dressing so don't be worried if it isn't exact.
When the chicken is done, cut the meat off the bone and chop into large chunks. Add everything to the salad including the dressing and mix it together! The warmth from the meat and veggies will wilt the spinach a bit and the dressing will just incorporate everything together!
Tips:
-if you don't have the ingredients for the dressing you can sub anything you think will work or just use a dressing you have at home. You don't need much to cover the whole salad! It is just to lightly dress it and blend the flavors.
-the thing that is great about Primal Kitchen is all their products are paleo approved which means there is nothing synthetic or artificial. they are also organic and the mayo I use in this recipe is sugar free, soy free, dairy free and gluten free. If you don't have it, that is fine but I highly recommend their products! I will put a link to their site on the Product Review tab!
- you may also use chicken breast for this recipe but the cooking time is only 25- 30 minutes.
-you could also add avocado or some pepper jack cheese if you are looking for some additional healthy fat
-you could also use a pre made seasoning like a taco seasoning packet or southwest seasoning blend. I have found it is easier and cheaper to have a lot of spices and mix them accordingly myself
-you can use more or less of any vegetable based on what you have available in your fridge
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